In Action Committee, Un-Aided Pvt. Schools v. Director of Education, Delhi (07.08.2009; MANU/SC/1458/2009), the Indian Supreme Court through Justice S.B. Sinha cited an article in the National Law School of India Review:
It is also of some interest to note that opinions in the academic field are being expressed that res extra commercium is an expression wrongly used in the last sixty years by this Court and other High Courts. No activity can be called “res extra commercium”. It is either permitted or not. Having regard to its conceptual roots to Roman law, it would mean only those things which are not incapable of being ownership and, thus, any matter which is res extra commercium were things incapable of ownership be vests in res in commercio. [See Arvind Datar, “Privilege, Police Power and Res Extra Commercium – Glaring Conceptual Errors” 21(1) National Law School of India Review 133 (2009)]
Hopefully this development will prompt judges in the higher judiciary to pay closer attention to academic literature and promote the several student journals that have been recently established by law schools throughout India. It should also hopefully encourage academics to publish in these journals.
I am grateful to Niranjan V for informing me of this case.
